Borderlands: Daughter of Pandora
by Lagiacrus
Summary: Adira is the perfect example of somebody who is useless on Pandora - she's never used a gun in her life and cares far too much for the safety of others. However, when a Vault Hunter arrives in Fyrestone her entire life changes. Forced to take up arms and prove her worth, Adira joins Mordecai in his search for the Vault and ends up on a journey to find out where she came from.
1. Prologue: Adira

Hey there guys - this is just a small idea I had while playing through Borderlands. I've not finished it yet, and I'll probably write more to this as I go along and if people like it. I apologise in advance if something lore-wise is incorrect as I haven't completed the main storyline yet - I've written this based purely on what I've seen in the game so far. I hope you all enjoy it!

**Edit:** I changed the rating to T when I discovered that the story wasn't coming up for everyone. Sorry about that, I didn't realize.

~Lagiacrus

* * *

**-About 16 years before the events of Borderlands-**

"Fucking skags, dangnabit, _dangnabit-!_" He'd been too late. The terrible sound of a vehicle careering off the highway and into Fyrestone's walls was unmistakable – not something Dr. Zed was used to hearing but not entirely unfamiliar, either. He'd been torn from his bed at the crack of dawn by T.K. Baha (who at the time still retained his sight and both legs) who informed him of a bus rampaging down the highway, an army of skags in pursuit. The bus had crashed and now the skags were throwing one hell of a feast with the bodies within. Well, not on his watch.

"Baha, keep back, ya hear!?" He commanded and the farmer nodded in response, checking the ammo of his Jakobs rifle – older than him by about half a century, and miraculously still working.

Armed with two Hyperion Fanged Raptors, he had left the illusion of safety that Fyrestone's walls offered him and had faced the skags head on, relying on Baha for long-range support. They had overwhelmed him quickly – the strength of the skag was most evident in numbers, after all – and he was forced to make his getaway.

"Claptrap, close the gate!" Zed screamed as he passed back into the confines of the small mining town.

"Aye aye, Sir!" Was the tiny robot's response – one press of a button on the keypad and the reinforced gate thundered down upon the advancing skags, even severing the head of one who had been moving a little too quickly to stop in time.

"Dang creatures, ain't there and end to them!?" He hissed, reloading his precious Raptors and taking out a few through the gaps in the gate.

"Somethin' must've drawn 'um to that there ve-hic-le, Zed." Baha reloaded his own weapon, getting six perfect headshots in a row.

"Smell of meat, no doubt," The former doctor mumbled from under his surgical mask. He'd been hoping to raid the bus for supplies but getting close to it was impossible with the skags around – better to wait until they'd had their fill. Just as he was about to suggest withdrawing, a noise, barely audible, somehow reached him.

From the flaming wreckage of the bus, somebody was screaming for help.

Blinking in surprise, Zed couldn't even stop his snarky comment; "Idiot'll attract the skags right to 'um." Zed readied his weapons and flipped over the wall without a second thought, right into the middle of the skag army.

"What're ye doin', Zed!?" Baha screeched, doing his best to take out each skag as it leapt for Zed's head.

"People're still alive in that bus," Zed replied. "Cover me."

"Roger that!"

Zed tore through the skags with ease, never even having to stop to reload. With the skags distracted by Baha and their numbers dwindling, he eventually made it to the bus with little trouble. Busting through one of the windows, he sheathed his guns, only to find his arm grabbed by a bruised and beaten woman, watching him with hopeful, teary eyes.

"Hold on there Darlin', I'll get'cha outta this mess-" He moved to pull her out through the window but she stopped him hastily with a vicious shake of her head.

"No, I'm done for! One of my legs is broken," She had a bundle clenched tightly to her chest, which she then held out for him to see – a baby, its face streaked with dirt, blue eyes wide and puffy from tears. "This is my daughter – we were on the run from her father. Please, keep her safe – I'll distract those skags so you can get away!"

Zed was too shocked to object as she gently pressed the child into his arms. She calmly observed him and he wondered why she wasn't more alarmed about the chaos transpiring around her. Perhaps, she had seen worse in her time – Zed didn't want to know what this child and her mother had went through before this moment.

"What's 'er name?" He feebly asked, voice cracking.

"Her name's Adira," She pulled a cheap Torgue Repeater out of a slot on her belt and began to fire it into the sky. "Heeeeey, you piss-drinkin' mutts! Over here!"

Each and every skag was drawn to her instantly, ignoring Baha as if he had never been there. Zed had to take down a few but they widely ignored him as he charged back to Fyrestone. As they circled the bus, snapping and yowling at the spouting flames, the mother crawled onto the side of the bus, releasing the safety of her Repeater and flawlessly blowing the heads of three Skags clean off.

"Her father is a Bandit Chief," She called after him. He nearly stopped in his tracks then and there, _Could this possibly get any worse? _"He might come for her one day – please protect her!"

He didn't dare turn back around as he heard the skags leap upon her. As soon as he was back within Fyrestone and the gate was closed, he fell to his knees. The back of his neck and his forehead dripped with nervous perspiration. Baha slung his rifle over his back and joined his friend, kneeling down and examining the baby Zed so tenderly carried – still silent, forever watching them.

"Well ah'll be an alpha skag's uncle," He breathed. "It's a kid!"

"That was 'er momma who distracted the skags," Zed was still struggling to come to terms with what had just transpired. "The two of them were runnin' from bandits, 'cause one of them is 'er father."

At this, Baha fell into silence. He stood up and took a few steps back, mumbling something which sounded to Zed like "I'll be damned". Zed was in two minds about this child – keeping her and protecting her like the mother had wanted would mean that he would be on a bandit's kill-list somewhere, very close to the top. However, he could never forgive himself if he simply threw her to the skags – it just wouldn't be right. Besides, the way the little girl was just watching him with those big round eyes – she was adorable.

Claptrap whizzed down from the gate controls.

"Good fighting, guys! We sure showed them whose boss!" He cheered in his usual overly-enthusiastic manner, skidding to a stop beside Dr. Zed.

"I just hope them skags don't hang around too long, or the smell will stink out the place." Baha spoke with a lopsided grin.

"What have you got there, Dr. Zed?" Claptrap asked curiously, leaning over the baby and zooming in on her face with its cyan optic.

"It's a baby – and don't git so close to 'er, you'll frighten 'er!" He bashed the robot on the head, sending it sprawling onto its back. The action all of a sudden spurred the little human into joyous laughter – and every heart present at that moment melted, even Claptrap's metaphorical one.

"Awwww… she's cute!" Claptrap commented happily from his spot on the ground.

"Darn, can't remember the last time I saw a kid," Baha scratched the back of his bent neck, trying to avoid looking at the child as it continued to laugh, like none of the pandemonium it had been caught up in had happened. The said doctor watched her like she was some sort of alien, wondering where to even begin.

"At least we know how to keep 'er happy – just give Claptrap a good beatin' upside the head." He stated, pulling himself up from the ground. Claptrap rocketed back up onto his wheel, thrusting forward a couple of times as if to check his joints.

"Can I see it, Dr. Zed?" Claptrap held out his spindly arms, clapping his claws together in the baby's direction. Zed immediately went through a mental list of everything that could possibly go wrong with leaving Claptrap in charge of a human baby – when he saw how intently the baby was trying to turn itself to look at it. When he held her up so she could see the little robot, she began to giggle again and wriggle around inside of her protective cloth.

"Well," Zed nearly laughed. "I guess she wants te see you as well."

With the utmost care he placed the baby into Claptrap's arms, keeping a constant eye on the two of them as he turned away.

"Hey there, human child! I am CL4P-TP - you may call me by my locally designated name, 'Claptrap'!" Zed grinned under his mask while he listened to the giddy robot talk.

"'Er name is Adira, Claptrap." Zed informed it and it responded with a surprised lift of its shoulder pads.

"Wow, you humans have some pretty strange names!"

Zed adjusted his face mask and started to lead the way into the Fyrestone proper.

"Let's get 'er back to my shack – we need to work out what the dang thing'll eat."

* * *

I did my best to keep this in character but most of this was written at midnight after a really stressful day, so I apologise if this isn't my usual quality standard of writing. I'll probably go back and edit this in the near future, once I've played more of Borderlands. Thank you for reading, and please let me know if you would like to see more of this!

~Lagiacrus


	2. Chapter 1: Mordecai

Hey guys - this story didn't get much feedback apart from one kind review (thank you by the way!) but I've decided to go ahead with this story anyway, mainly because I just finished off the main missions of Borderlands and am now moving on to the DLC - and to be honest, I'M HOOKED. I'm a little depressed that Claptrap is the enemy of the first DLC (I nearly cried in the Crimson Lance base when you find several of them dead D:) but it will probably just give me more fodder for fanfiction. I'm not planning for this story to branch off into the DLC, but I might change my mind depending on how much I enjoy them.

In this chapter, we meet some of the key characters, such as Mordecai, Clappy (yellow and white Fyrestone Claptrap) and Trappy (green and black Easter Egg Claptrap that you can find hidden in Fyrestone). This chapter might be a little slow as most of it is descriptive - setting the scene for what is to come, if you will - but stick with me and you'll get all of the gunfights, explosions, aliens and suspense you want!

~Lagiacrus

* * *

"Come on, rise and shine, Kiddo!"

Adira did not take kindly to her dad smashing through her front door at six in the morning, clapping his hands and trying to pull her out of bed. He wasn't usually in this much of a rush about anything, being a very laid back man by nature, but when he was this hyped up about something it was always hell for her – he'd have her doing all kinds of chores today, no doubt. She barely shifted underneath her covers at her dad's intrusion, only groaning in frustration when he sat down on the edge of her bed and shook her gently by the shoulder.

"Gerroff." She growled and shoved his hand away. Next, he gave a tug on her chestnut brown hair and she shot up, eyes half-lidded but expression stern.

"What the hell is so important that you wake me up before the crack of dawn, dad!?" She barked with her croaky voice – although she was shouting, something still seemed relatively unthreatening about her voice. So much so that her dad, Dr. Zed, only burst out laughing.

"Come on, get on yer feet, we've got a busy day ahead!" He then got up and left her to prepare.

Adira hadn't seen her father that chipper in a long time – for the past year and a half, Fyrestone had been plagued nearly nightly by bandits, taking orders from the notorious Sledge to sack the town of everything it had. There had been no casualties, not that there was really any to be had – all in all, the population of Fyrestone was a meagre four – only two of them were human, the other two being Claptraps. Dr. Zed was experienced with bandits enough to keep them all out of harm's way when the time came, but she could tell that the bandit threat still weighed heavily on her father's mind. Since the whole thing had started, Dr. Zed just hadn't been the same – it was like he was constantly haunted by worry that something would happen to them.

Listening intently to the sound of Dr. Zed opening the town gates for the day, Adira finally gathered the strength to get up and dress herself. Her usual outfit consisted of khaki combat pants, black armoured boots, a plain red t-shirt and a black, fur-lined hooded waistcoat. It was perfect for the unpredictable temperatures of the Badlands.

There was a much smaller knock on her door as she finished tying up her boots, followed by the familiar voice of one of the Claptraps – Adira had given them names to tell them apart, naming the yellow and white one Clappy and the green and black one Trappy. Judging by the slight abnormality in its voice, Adira determined that it was Trappy on the other side of the door.

"Adira, are you ready yet?" It asked, its voice laced with an urgent eagerness. Adira could only grin as she replied; "Just coming, Little Buddy."

* * *

"_Don't be alarmed." _

Mordecai nearly poked himself in the eye with his rifle when a voice filled his head and the small, fuzzy image of a dark-haired woman appeared at the corner of his eye.

"_I need you to stay calm and don't let on that anyone is talking to you." _He fought the urge to nod in reply, wondering if his past few days on this planet had finally caused him to lose his marbles.

"_Start making your way off the bus." _Sceptical, he stood up and moved to the front of the bus. He could see the beginnings of a town through the front window.

"_You don't have any reason to trust me, but I need you to believe that I'm here to guide you and here to help you find the Vault." _This was only becoming more suspicious the more she spoke.

"_In a moment, you'll be greeted by a funny little robot…"_

* * *

Clappy watched the highway with an eye like an eagle, nervously rocking back and forth on his wheel. He had a rough idea of what to expect – all he knew was that Dr. Zed had been warned by Marcus that a new potential Vault Hunter was to be staying in town a few nights, arriving… well, about now, if Clappy's information was correct. He was confused by the sudden surge of nervousness that ran through his circuits – the last time he had met anybody new had been… Adira. Fifteen years and three months ago. His shoulder pads flew up in shock. _Fifteen years and three months!? _He was getting _old!_

As he was checking himself for dirt, the bus finally appeared in the distance, a speck shimmering in the heatwaves of the morning. He quickly stood up straight, throwing his shoulders back and zipped on over to the bus stop. The bus drew to a halt alongside the stop and its door was flung open. Clappy shifted a few paces back as somebody dismounted – A lean man with a devilish Jakobs rifle strapped to his back, a monstrous-looking bird on his shoulder and all but his mouth and striking beard covered by a leather mask and goggles. Leather armour protected his chest while underneath he wore a red t-shirt. To finish it all off, he had simple black combat pants on and leather boots. Every inch of him that was available seemed to have a pocket filled with ammo for the rifle. Clappy tried to avoid eyeing up the sword strapped to his belt and instead turned to see the bus off.

"Mordecai!" A female voice called from inside the bus. The man turned back to peer into the bus with a sneer. A pink-haired woman stared back at him, smirking all the while.

"What?" He snapped.

"Remember the plan!" She responded with in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah yeah," He spun on his heels and pretended not to pay attention. "Get off my back, woman."

"See you soon!" She called to him and the bus began to pull away. Clappy waved it off with a cheerful laugh. When he turned back around, he found the masked stranger staring down at him with a potentially raised eyebrow. Ignoring his clear confusion, Claptrap initiated his usual 'Welcome' protocol.

"Welcome to Fyrestone! I am CL4P-TP - you may call me by my locally designated name, 'Claptrap'!" Mordecai looked almost surprised to see him talk, but Claptrap ignored this – humans tended not to understand his greatness. He was used to it by now.

"Umm… okay?" When Mordecai finally gave a suitable reply, Claptrap wasted no time in initiating the next protocol.

"Before continuing, please accept this ECHO communication device and heads-up display, provided free of charge by the Dahl corporation!" He took the small device out of his Digistruct tray and passed it to the increasingly baffled sniper.

"Oh, thank you. I've been trying to get one of these." Mordecai was now more confused by the tiny robot's overwhelming kindness as he fitted the device to the side of his mask and switched it on. If this was the 'funny little robot' that the mysterious woman had spoken of, perhaps it was wise to heed her words after all. He was nearly thrown back as the display flashed up in front of his face and loaded, materialising all of the required modules.

"Okay, this will take some getting used to." He mumbled. This was his first time away from Earth, where none of this fancy technology was needed. Claptrap picked up on the energy that the device was giving off and fired immediately into the next thing on his agenda.

"Great! I detect that your ECHO device is fully functioning! This way, please."

Still at a loss, Mordecai followed. He had seen a few CL4P-TP units on his way here, but they were mainly gibbering malfunctioning piles of junk that were pointlessly abused by the locals or programmed specifically for one thing – none of them had even conversed with him up until now. The robot even went as far as to get him set up for the New-U system, which apparently would revive him for a fee if he ever found himself killed, and then lead the way into Fyrestone, where Marcus had set him up for a few nights while he got his bearings and learned how things worked on Pandora. It was already a lot different from life on Earth – everything from the landscape to the people. So far, he wasn't sure if he'd even met a single person who didn't have a bad attitude or hadn't been eyeing up his expensive rifle. He was expecting no different in this town, to be honest – but at least it was a place to rest his head at night.

Claptrap had just opened the gate when he suddenly froze in his tracks.

"Oh no… is that…?" With no warning and leaving the mercenary standing out in the open Clappy took shelter in a small hut made of corrugated iron, pulling the door closed before Mordecai could react. He became aware of the sound of a roaring engine somewhere overhead. No sooner was his rifle wrenched from his back that a red Outrunner came screaming over the hill and tore into town, cutting circles out of the dry gravel like a rampaging beast. The sniper's grin luckily went unnoticed – two of the bandits within the vehicle had their brains blown out before they even registered that he was there. _Now this is more like it! _The Outrunner sped out of sight while two more bandits leapt from its depths and took shelter behind a building up ahead. His pet, Bloodwing, screeched agitatedly from his shoulder. He reached up and gave the bird a clap on the head.

"They lookin' at you, boy?" He cooed. It ruffled its feathers in growing frustration, only evoking the sniper to laugh.

"Well, go get'um!" He held out his arm and the bird leapt from it like a thirsty predator. He took the moment to refill his rifle and only took aim when he saw Bloodwing harassing a target – the bandit closest to them. _He's got it covered, _he decided and aimed at the other bandit, who was trying to aim for Bloodwing, trembling in fear.

"Oh no you don't!" He took aim and fired, the bullet piercing the enemy's neck, sending blood spurting onto the soil. Mordecai continued to smile as he watched his beloved bird claw out the eyes of the remaining bandit, once again opening up his rifle to replace the spent bullet. He was strange like that – he couldn't stand leaving his rifle even one bullet short.

Eventually Bloodwing grew tired of the screaming pest and flew back to Mordecai, perching contentedly back on his shoulder. That poor sod would bleed to death eventually. When Clappy finally emerged from hiding, all he saw was the stranger standing there with his blood-soaked avian creature, laughing excitedly.

"I think I'm gonna like this place!"

* * *

As far as Dr. Zed knew, Adira was locked in his surgery – it was where he hid her when the bandits attacked. However, he was sorely mistaken. She was perched on top of one of the Fyrestone watchtowers with Trappy, watching the stranger from the bus cut through the bandits like a hot knife through butter, Clappy whizzing along behind him, deliberately keeping his distance. She lowered the binoculars from her eyes as a grenade went off in the town below.

"So that's why dad got me up early," She mused. "He never told me we were expecting guests!"

"From what I hear, he's a Vault Hunter!" Trappy informed her. She peered at him again through the binoculars, taking in the sight of his splendid bird tearing literal chunks out of the bandits.

"Hey, he's got a Bloodwing!" She hopelessly grinned – it was the first time she had seen one outside of her old Hyperion _'Wildlife Guide For Children'. _

"Bloodwings are an endangered species here on Pandora and possession of them is considered to be illegal, regardless of how they were obtained by their owner!" Trappy filled her in. She nodded her head slowly, curiosity about this stranger settling in.

"Exactly."

She was forced to conceal herself once more as the bandits that had overtook the Fyrestone Main Square loaded their guns and were faced by the mysterious sniper, who rushed at them head on with a frightening blade. Chopping through them like paper, he had done the impossible – he had cleared an entire town of bandits in less than fifteen minutes.

* * *

"_Amazing! I knew you were the right choice, friend!" _Mordecai smirked at the praise from the unknown woman, taking a small piece of beef jerky from one of his numerous pockets and feeding it to the famished creature on his shoulders.

Clappy rushed ahead of him the second he knew that the danger had passed and stood beside the New-U station, activating his 'Loudspeaker' voice mod.

"Attention, citizens of Fyrestone! There is no cause for alarm! This new visitor has resolved the problem!" He indicated to Mordecai despite the lack of people around to actually acknowledge him. He wondered if this poor robot had lost his marbles and this town was actually deserted – then again, why would Marcus and the others send him here if that was the case? To teach him a lesson for that prank he pulled on Brick? The one where he filled all of his weapons with bubble bath instead of bullets? Come to think of it, that was a very likely possibility. _Oh, hell no._

Luckily, a voice called out from the shack closest to the New-U station.

"I can't git the door open from in here – Stranger, can you press the switch by the door?" Mordecai realized that the voice was referring to him and walked up to the shack, locating a small keypad on the side of the sliding garage-style door. He pressed the flashing green button, hoping for the best and the door luckily slid open, revealing a small doctor's surgery with a blood-stained finish. He was greeted by Dr. Zed, who promptly shook his hand.

"Dang door was malfunctionin' again," He apologised, before scanning the square with narrowed eyes. "Say, you never saw a girl pokin' around on your way here, did ya?"

"Can't say that I did." Mordecai replied, instinctively looking around with him.

"Well damn, then my kid's went missin'. _Again._" He growled. Mordecai caught the nervousness in Dr. Zed's voice and frowned.

"Listen, we'll talk when I've found 'er." Zed then stormed off in the direction of one of the smaller shacks, which appeared to have been shoddily painted various shades of red. Noticing that Clappy appeared to be checking under rocks for the missing girl, Mordecai simply tagged along with Zed. The disgruntled doctor knocked on the door of the shack while shouting;

"You in here, Adira!? Come on out!" No response.

Zed looked back to Mordecai, trying to conceal the terror in his voice.

"She's prolly still sleepin' – Damn girl sleeps like a Rakk Hive."

"Don't panic, she'll be around here somewhere," The last thing the sniper needed on his conscious was a missing daughter. "I'll help you look."

"No need! I'm here!" Mordecai wheeled around in enough time to catch sight of the girl and Claptrap that darted past him and straight into Dr. Zed. The kid, small for her age and surprisingly stocky compared to other Pandorian girls he'd seen thus far, had her arms wrapped tightly around her dad and her face buried into his chest.

"Sorry, I was with Trappy." She apologised hastily while Zed returned the hug, trying to conceal his relief.

"Don't disappear like that. I thought they'd taken you." He scolded her but she simply grinned.

"If they haven't caught me yet, they won't! I'm too quick for them!"

The mysterious woman appeared in his vision again.

"_That girl… she… gives me a bad feeling. I'm sure it's probably nothing, but…"_

Throughout the rest of the day, Dr. Zed helped Mordecai get settled in – then put him to work. Almost too quickly. Mordecai did his best to remember Marcus' words about that – Vault Hunters were seen as mercenaries and were often given odd jobs to do for high rewards. While mumbling about wanting to put his feet up and sip on a nice cold beer, he managed to warm up to the idea and spent the rest of the day out in the Badlands doing whatever Zed needed him to do.

Every time he returned from one of his trips, he would observe the daughter, Adira, going about her business. What the mysterious woman had said about her was still on his mind. Most often, she was sitting somewhere cross-legged and playing a game with the two Claptraps. Other times, she was watching her father as he worked in his surgery or trying to repair the Outrunner parked in the square. He could tell just by looking at her that she was not a usual Pandorian – for one thing, she was the only person he'd seen thus far who didn't have an attitude. For another thing, she seemed to have no underlying thoughts of violence when she spoke to the Claptraps. In fact, she got on especially well with them and they in turn adored her. She hated the sight of blood and guts and would often leave her dad's office or complain when he holed a body up onto his work table.

As night finally reared its head, Clappy contacted Mordecai through his ECHO communicator and summoned him back to Fyrestone. He finished up gathering some Skag armor plates for Zed and headed back – he'd not been able to get anything considered decent, but Zed said it would do. In the square, Zed had made a 'campfire' out of the materials of a topless barrel and was roasting some unidentifiable meat over the top of it on sticks. The girl was sitting on the other side of him and the Claptraps stood on either side of her. They reminded him distinctly of bodyguards.

"Come and join us! Chow's nearly done!" Zed called. It took the sniper a moment to respond, so used to the steely, non-hospitable manner of everybody else on the planet. All of the kindness he'd been faced with today was actually taking some getting used to.

With a wordless smile, he pulled a chair from Zed's office and sat opposite the four inhabitants of Fyrestone, leaving his rifle off to one side. Bloodwing perched on a podium nearby, keeping a healthy distance away so he could keep an eye out for intruders. At one point, Zed left the roasting food in the care of Adira in order to check on something in his surgery.

"You're a Vault Hunter, right?" She questioned him suddenly, her expression was so serious considering the topic.

"So I keep hearing." He responded with, although in truth it was a title that he had only been christened with recently and he wasn't quite sure how much weight it carried.

"So you've… killed people?"

What an unusual question. First of all, Mordecai had heard that killing was common as mud on Pandora – most native Pandorians made their first kill at the age of five, some even younger. Secondly, the kill rate matched the death rate exactly on Pandora – that's why the population never rises or falls. Surely she should at least be able to guess his track record, especially because he's been on the planet two weeks already.

"Yeah, I have." He responded with anyway, concealing his curiosity.

"How can you stand to do it? Like, how do you sleep at night?" Her questions hit him full on like an outrunner gone berserk. Nobody had bothered to ask him stuff like this before.

"Once you've done it enough, you just… stop thinking about it, I guess." _Or, you have no empathy, you sick bastard._

"I can't stand the idea of hurting anyone. I can't even shoot a Skag." She admitted. Staring at her in astoundment, he examined the gentle glint in the girl's eyes, looked at the way she rested both hands upon the heads of the Claptraps in an almost comforting manner and realized for the first time that she was the only person he'd met on Pandora so far who didn't have a gun strapped to her belt. What on earth was the mysterious woman frightened of her for? He subconsciously wrinkled his nose – even he could guess that if she left the walls of Fyrestone or didn't have her dad to protect her, she'd be dead within minutes.

He couldn't stand people like that – people who couldn't fight for themselves.

They talked little the rest of the night.

* * *

Thank you for reading this far! I know it seems like the story is simply Borderlands with some differences but believe me, it's not. Finding the Vault is only part of this story - in fact, a very small part. The story will start to focus more on Adira as the story goes on.

Found any errors, seen something that just doesn't make sense, or even just enjoyed it? Feel free to let me know!

~Lagiacrus


	3. Chapter 2: Prep for the Real Challenge

Hi guys, sorry this took a little while. I've been busy the past few days with various things as well as playing through the Borderlands DLC. The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned I didn't like too much as I don't like the overwhelming nature of zombie shooters, but the Wereskags were sweet and the Jakobs Claptrap is so delightfully evil! Moxxi's Underdome got boring quickly, so I don't know how it ends, and I'm currently playing through the Secret Armory of General Knoxx, but I've not completed it yet. The Monster is an epic vehicle, though.

Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Read on!

~Lagiacrus

* * *

Barely a week had passed since Mordecai's arrival and he was already having the time of his life. The daily turmoil of a wet-behind-the-ears Vault Hunter was thrilling and paid well. Doing the dirty work of those less equipped than you seemed to be a good way to earn your keep on this planet and he was fine with that.

As for the teenager, Adira – Well, he'd done his best to stay clear of her but she seemed to have taken a shine to him and Bloodwing – Bloodwing especially. The annoying thing about it was that the damn bird had taken to her just as much. He had learned to trust Bloodwing's judgement about people – anybody that it trusted, Mordecai could trust too – but he just had no time for the damn brat!

During his time in Fyrestone Mordecai had become well acquainted with the old farmer, T.K. Baha – he had a lot of things that had needed doing, such as the rescuing of his prosthetic leg from the skags of Skag Gully and the retrieval of his food – once again, stolen by skags. By the end of the week Mordecai had grown to like the cheeky elder and thoroughly enjoyed helping him out – especially because most of his tasks involved killing in some way. Mordecai was fond of dogs usually, but the skags he had quickly tired of – killing them was actually a way of blowing off steam to him. They were just that bothersome. Plus, it didn't help that Bloodwing didn't like the taste of them.

So you can imagine Mordecai's surprise when T.K. Baha called him out to his farm and then told him to head on out to Skag Gully and kill the notorious bandit subordinate of Sledge, Nine-Toes. Mordecai hadn't killed a single bandit since the day of his arrival in Fyrestone, it had been only skags up until now that had felt the wrath of his beloved Jakobs Long Thunder. It's not like he couldn't handle it, but he felt a little overwhelmed at how much everybody in these parts believed in him already. He supposed that the good civilians of the Arid Badlands didn't have anybody to look up to most days. It flattered him but also concerned him – the wellbeing of the town had pretty much rested upon his shoulders alone since his arrival.

Marcus had re-opened his Fyrestone shop and Mordecai made sure that he had everything he needed before he set off. One thing he had learned during his time here was that the skags were super dangerous in numbers. He'd had to make use of the New-U station twice already due to his carelessness. He decided it was worth splashing out for this particular mission and picked up a Standard Regenerating Shield that would slowly patch up his wounds, if he got any. He refilled all his ammo, stocked up on healing kits, sharpened his blade, checked that the pistol he rarely used was still working and set out just as dawn broke.

* * *

He hadn't noticed that the whole time, Adira had been watching him from the comfort of her favourite watchtower. Both Clappy and Trappy were with her, playing a game of cards behind her while she observed the sniper through binoculars.

"So, he's going off to take on Nine-Toes. I wonder if he'll make it back… I hope he does…" She lowered the binoculars from her eyes and turned around to face the Claptraps, crossing her legs and watching the game. Whatever it was they were playing, Clappy appeared to be winning.

"According to the Hyperion's 'Most Badass Bandit Leaders' list, Nine-Toes is rated #3 out of #10! He probably won't come back!" Clappy spoke cheerily. Adira rolled her eyes in reply.

"Ye of little faith, Clappy… He's a big, strong Vault Hunter! Like the ones from the stories dad used to tell me!"

"That's the problem – the Vault Hunters believe in old wives' tales! There is only a 30% chance of the Vault being proved real, you know? They're throwing their lives away!" Clappy countered. Adira simply whacked him on the head.

"I know as a robot you're meant to look at things logically, but just try and use your imagination! Imagine Mordecai finding the Vault and claiming riches untold, and he would look back on killing Nine-Toes and he would remember that it took him one step closer to his goal…" She scolded him, before going off on a prideful rant.

"My imagination chip broke two years ago…" The robot almost seemed to deflate, letting his arms drape to his sides, exposing his cards to Trappy who quickly snapped a picture of them for future reference.

"You know… what if I could have been something like that?" Adira wondered, pressing her back against the cool metal of the watchtower wall. Trappy proceeded to slam Clappy at the game through suspicious means, but Clappy was too preoccupied to really notice, sensing the unusual tone of Adira's voice.

"Like what, Adira?" The two Claptraps asked as they sat down (as much as they could) in front of her, like children preparing to listen to storytime.

"Like, a Vault Hunter? What if I could have been a Vault Hunter, if I was stronger?" She pushed her chin into her knees and watched the two robots in turn.

"It's better to leave a job like that to the riff-raff! Being a Vault Hunter isn't something a civilized young lady should be thinking about!" Trappy then spoke up. Just like him – he was always determined to make sure she stayed out of trouble.

"Yeah, I know… I know I don't have the stones for it or anything, but… what if?" She slid into a daydream while she stared out into the Badlands beyond, taking in the sight of the old Wind Turbines that appeared so far away. Shades of pink and orange from the rising sun clashed with the gun metal grey of the turbines' shafts. Their blades spun agonizingly slowly or not at all, broken by years of neglect. Originally used to power the machines in Headstone Mine, they'd been left to rot away since Dahl cleared out.

"Is something bothering you?" Clappy then butted in, breaking the girl out of her little daydream.

"Yeah, it is," Adira folded up the binoculars as best as she could and stuffed them into her toolbag hanging from her shoulder. She tied the bag around her belt – something she did when she was preparing to move around. "I feel like I'm missing something big out there, that the Vault Hunters get in on. There's a part of Pandora I'm not going to see if I just stay in this town forever."

The two Claptraps looked at each other, before slowly looking back to Adira.

"Y-Y-You're gonna leave us, aren't you!?" They both screeched at once. Before the young girl could even form a reply the two Claptraps were hugging her legs with their spindly little arms, whimpering and begging her not to leave.

"No, I'm not leaving you guys – but I am going to leave the town. I'm not going far – I just want to see what I'm missing."

"How long will you be!?" Trappy questioned frantically. She stroked the ridge of his optic with a smile.

"A few hours at most. Like I said, I'm not going far."

That was the end of it. They couldn't stop her. However, the most she could bring with her for protection was a small swiss army knife that could probably be decent enough against the skags, but not much else. Luckily, as she soon discovered, that was all there really was as long as she stuck to the right areas.

Her dad wasn't even awake – it was the perfect time to sneak out. She was aiming to catch up with Mordecai and see what the life of a Vault Hunter was really like. As the two Claptraps began their morning routines, Adira equipped herself with any pieces of body armor she could find – which was only a pair of leather shoulder pads and her protective mask for when she was working with the metal welder. She looked stupid wearing it, but it was practicality before fashion, in this case.

Her first steps out of the village gates were overwhelming and the flush of excitement she felt would not be rivalled for several months. It was too early in the morning for even the skags to be awake – as long as there were no bandit patrols, it would be completely safe for her to walk around outside. She stepped onto the tarmac of the beaten road and followed it, before breaking out onto the dirt path leading past Scooter's ve-hic-le thingy. When she reached the farm, T.K. Baha was already awake and recognized the smell of her from a mile away. Before she had even stepped in through his broken fence, he was stuttering from surprise.

"H-How did ye get outta the town, Kid!?"

"I walked out, obviously." She said with a smirk.

"W-Well," The blind old man licked his dry lips, trying to steel himself. "It's good te see ye, in any case – or rather, what I can of ye, hehe."

"I'm looking for Mordecai, have you seen him?" She requested – she knew he had met Baha as he had spoken to dad about him the night previously.

"N-Nope, I haven't! But whatever ye do, dun't go into Skag Gully, y'hear?"

So _that's _where he was. She knew little about Nine-Toes, but he was mighty brave to have his hideout in such an unliveable part of the Badlands.

"Sorry, did you say _don't _go into Skag Gully?" Adira was already turning to leave the farm, grinning like a hyena.

"Yeah, I did! Keep away from that place, ain't no place for little girls!" He called after her.

"I'll keep that in mind!" She sang as she skipped her way towards the Skag Gully gates.

* * *

Mordecai's mind kept flashing back to the young girl residing at the town, for no other reason than how much she annoyed him. She knew nothing about the world around her, was reckless and had a knack for getting herself into trouble simply because she was curious. She was foolish and brave and _totally defenceless_ and it would be the death of her one day.

"Thank God we don't have her weighing us down." Mordecai spoke, half to himself and half to Bloodwing. The said bird slapped him across the cheek with itstail.

"Hey! What'd I do?" Although he knew Bloodwing didn't need to give an answer.

Curiously, while working his way up the Gully and towards where Nine-Toes was supposed to have made his hideout, he was running into less and less of the awful dog-like creatures. He knew they were pack animals and that they could call on one another with their screeching, so perhaps there was a big hunt going on and it was all hands on deck.

"Assholes are probably going after that Mothrakk beast I've been hearing about – we'll need to give him a shot sometime too, huh?" Mordecai suggested to his bird companion and it gave a cry of approval. He grinned, reloading his rifle and moving on.

The ECHO log that came through a few moments later nearly made him jump out of his skin. The familiar voice of Dr. Zed reached his ears and he quickly stopped to listen. His voice shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, he spoke;

"Hey there Mordecai, I know that T.K. Baha's got ye on the hunt for Nine-Toes, but there's an emergency 'ere… Adira's went missin'. Nowhere to be found. Think the robots know somethin' but they won't spill the beans. I know yer busy, but if ye see her around… bring 'er home for me."

"That damn kid!" The sniper slammed the barrel of his rifle into the ground in frustration. "She's not gonna last out here! She's probably already dead, Goddammit!"

Bloodwing looked at him with narrowed eyes. He returned the stare for a moment, confused, before he realised –

"I-I don't care about _her, _Blood – just Dr. Zed's been good to me…" He refused to look the bird in the eye, scooping up his rifle and turning to head back down the hill. "…But I guess we should find her."

* * *

Were it possible to land herself in any worse of a situation on her first trip out of town, Adira was not aware of it.

She could hear them behind her, screeching battle cries that she'd only ever heard from afar until now. Skags of all shapes, sizes and strengths were on her tail and every time one leaped it only just missed her. It was stupid to leave the town without a weapon, she realized – even though she didn't have one in the first place. She never believed that she would ever want – or _need _one so much in her life.

She was aiming to reach the abandoned encampment at the top of the Gully, she would find some sort of gun there – she might be able to hold them off there long enough to make a proper escape. She was fit enough to keep running and stay ahead – it actually looked like she might make it there without dying.

She passed into the vast caverns and vaulted over a chest carelessly dropped by bandits onto the grounds below, continuing her charge for the peak of the Gully as the literal wave of Skags relentlessly pursued, pouring after her through the cave mouth. When the beginnings of the camp were in sight, she nearly laughed – she was going to make it! She would be okay! She's startle them with some weapons and then flee back to Fyrestone! Her dad would be none the wiser, hopefully and she'd never leave town again _if only it meant that she could survive today! _

Her expression drooped and she skidded to an abrupt halt. Waiting for her at the centre of the encampment was a bright green Skag, heavily armoured and with corrosive liquid dripping from its mouth. It locked on to her with its glowing yellow orbs and roared, drawing the attention of its smaller minions.

"That…! That creature is…!" Why she spoke, she had no idea. "That is the most _badass _thing I have ever seen!"

However the beast was in no mood for compliments. Every skag within a mile's radius had her circled, cornered like a rat. In some fruitless attempt to appear threatening, she flipped open her swiss army knife and waved it at those who dared draw close, only making them back away slightly before they simply jumped right back into place. She spotted a rusty old Repeater on the table directly behind the Badass Corrosive Skag – but that no longer mattered – she had no chance in hell of ever reaching it.

The Badass Corrosive Skag stepped over its minuscule minions, proving to be at least ten times taller than Adira and even Mordecai. She could feel its putrid breath on her face. Acid dripped from its mouth and fizzled away on the dusty ground. _This is it, _She thought. _I'm done for._

It opened its mouth – she watched, shellshocked the gooey strands of bright green liquid that dripped from its jaws – and suddenly screamed as from somewhere a weapon was fired and the beast suffered a bullet through the brain. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she watched the body sink to the floor, only to see Mordecai and Bloodwing standing directly behind it, his rifle's barrel smoking.

When he slung the rifle over his back and drew his sword was when shit got serious.

The skags were upon him like the scourge they were. Bloodwing zipped from his shoulder like a rocket and took out three of the youngest skags with nothing but its claws. Mordecai himself swiped an alpha's head clean off, before using the whelps as a walkway to reach Adira. She stood there shaking as he landed beside her and spun around to beat the shit out of more skags.

"You-!" Slash. "Are a-!" Hack, chop. "Fucking_ stupid_-!" Slice. "_KID!_" Mordecai huffed in between skags, kicking one in the jaw as he ripped out another's tongue with his free hand.

"I know!" She replied with. Their numbers were dwindling as many chose to retreat, leaving only a select few skags still standing. Adira looked around to see one flanking them, before it leaped right for Mordecai as he shot the remaining enemies in the head with a Maliwan Incendiary Pistol.

"Mordecai, look out!"

He wheeled around right on cue and shoved the sword right through the beast, with the sword's tip emerging comically from it's rear. The horrible shanking sound was enough to make Adira feel sick. Mordecai dropped the weapon in just enough time to catch her when she swivelled round and fell.

"S-Sorry," she gasped, gripping tightly the fabric of his shirt. "That's, uh… the first time something's ever been killed right in my face."

"At this rate it won't be the last." He grumbled. He scooped her up into his arms and sat her down on one of the chairs around the encampment while he hunted around for some replacement ammo, picking up his blade in the process. Bloodwing perched on her shoulder and scanned the Gully with its keen eyes. Mordecai recognized the bird's behaviour, as it often acted similarly while he was wounded or reloading. Bloodwing was protecting her. He wondered what the hell the bird saw in her anyway.

He found nothing of use, not even a decent new weapon. The equipment was mostly broken or outdated. This place hadn't seen human life in over a decade, if the dates and models of the guns were anything to go on.

"Okay, listen – I'm going to walk you back to the Skag Gully gates. From there, you will head back to Fyrestone. Then I'm going to kill Nine-Toes, knowing that you are out of harm's way," He treaded over to her, holding out his hand. "Kapeesh?"

* * *

On their way back to the gates they said nothing. It was when the two reached the gates that Adira finally broke the uncomfortable silence and grabbed hold of him by the rifle as he was turning to walk away.

"Hear me out for a second!" She begged. With a grumble he faced her, crossing his arms impatiently.

"What is it?"

The images of the dead skags weighed heavily in her mind. She knew that Nine-Toes was a bad person and that he deserved to die, but she couldn't stand to hear that anything – especially another person, like her – had died by Mordecai's rifle.

"H-Have you considered talking to him rather than killing him?"

The way his face fell would have been funny if it wasn't for how serious Adira was being.

"…You're being completely serious, aren't you?" The Vault Hunter replied with a nervous laugh, looking away for a second. When she didn't reply and continued to stare at him with those big blue eyes, he knew she wasn't fooling around. He sighed, looking to her once more.

"There's no negotiating with somebody like that."

"You don't know until you try!" She pointed out.

"Yeah, _try _and _get myself killed._" The sniper insisted.

"You don't know that, Mordecai! For all we know, Nine-Toes could be a decent guy who is simply trying to keep his men fed!"

"Alright, listen," He placed his hand gently on the girl's shoulder. "Rule number one of being a Vault Hunter: _Never try to negotiate with a bandit._"

She scoffed, turning away from him fiercely. Who was he to throw rules around? He'd barely been on the planet a week while she'd been here all her life! He had no right to tell her what was what!

"So, head back to Fyrestone. Tell your dad I'll be back by dinner." With that, he strode off, Bloodwing moving from Adira's shoulder to his. She glanced back, watching him go. Then, she had an idea. A very, _very _dangerous idea.

"I can show him," she mumbled to herself – a bad habit she'd developed in her younger years. "I'll talk to Nine-Toes and get him to agree to never attack us again."

She waited long until Mordecai was out of sight before stepping away from the gates to the Badlands and following his dust-ridden tracks up the Gully.

* * *

Next stop, Nine-Toes! :D

Once I get back from my holiday, which I depart on a week and a bit from now, I'm planning to order Borderlands 2. I've seen some gameplay videos of it and now I really feel like I need to see it all for myself! I'll get it for the PS3, even though the controls suck. Anyway, that's just a warning that I'll probably start writing BL2 fanfiction as well at some point.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts!

~Lagiacrus


	4. Chapter 3: Nine-Toes

Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry about the uber-late update for this chapter - I've been busy with other projects recently and have also started Borderlands 2. Loving it so far, especially the kick-ass Maliwan SMGs. Anyway, more about that later. However, expect my Pandorian lore to hopefully be more accurate from now on - but I do have some new plans for this story that I've just fabricated out of nowhere and probably aren't accurate. You'll know them when they appear. Anyway, enjoy!

~Lagiacrus

* * *

The skags had been nothing – dead in one shot from the Long Thunder and dead in three from the pistol. But, upon following the signs to Nine-Toes' encampment (while wondering why the bandits had been stupid enough to put them there in the first place) he found that the enemies he was meeting were getting considerably tougher and stronger – eventually, he started meeting what appeared to be _midgets! _Midgets _with axes!_ Midgets with axes _that they threw at him! _

They took a few hits to take down at a time and Mordecai had sustained quite a few injuries while only in battle with a few of the little shits. He remained undeterred and simply used Dr. Zed's vending machine on the inside of the encampment to inject himself with some healing fluids that instantly repaired his wounds, leaving only faint scars on his skin. He used Marcus' ammunition vending machine to refill his ammo, took out a few of the bandits who had been planning to ambush him but had seriously failed at stealth and then readied his guns for confronting Nine-Toes – before there was a vicious crash and a high-pitched grunt behind him. Bloodwing sounded his greeting cry and Mordecai was hit immediately with a feeling of absolute dread – he slowly turned around, fearing the worst possible thing – and was graced with the presence of Adira – the _sole worst possible thing _that he could have met at that moment.

"I thought I told you to go back to Fyrestone?" He tried to keep his cool, grabbing the kid by the collar and hoisting her up. She brushed herself off and crossed her arms, pouting at him.

"I'm going to give my method a try."

"You're gonna try and talk to him?" He laughed for real this time, causing the girl to bear her teeth in a snarl. "You really are outta your mind, Kid."

"Just watch me." She strutted past him, stepping over the dead bodies on her way to Nine-Toes' lair. He grabbed her by the hood of her waistcoat, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"I can't let you do that. Dr. Zed wants you home – _not _full of bullets."

"I won't be full of bullets if you'll just _trust me!_" Her voice was raised a little too loud and some previously unaware bandits were firing at them from all angles within moments. She screeched, hiding behind Mordecai as he sighed and shot them down with his pistol.

"See?" He reloaded the pistol, not looking at her as he spoke. "The only thing words are good for around here is for fishing out your next target."

"I'll prove you wrong," Her voice and body betrayed her, both shaking uncontrollably. "I can talk him down. Just help me get there."

"No."

She growled in frustration and turned away.

"Wait here until I get back. Don't move." He commanded sternly and turned on his heels, heading in the direction of Nine-Toes. There was more gunfire immediately, making her flinch. _There must be a better way to go about this. _She gulped and moved to the sides of the vending machines, taking shelter in between them. The last thing she wanted was to get hit by a bullet meant for Mordecai – he could go home looking like Swiss cheese if he wanted, but not her. Right on cue, an SMG bullet whizzed past right where she had been standing. She gave a sigh of relief. _Good move. _

The sounds of rocks crumbling reached her. She looked back, only to see what looked like the beginnings of a tunnel behind Marcus' vending machine. She squeezed down towards it, sighing in relief when she slotted perfectly into the tunnel. Judging by the tunnel's size, it was used by the midgets to travel between different parts of Nine-Toes' lair. This, with any luck, could take her right to him before Mordecai could charge in all gung-ho and shoot the poor man full of holes.

As she crawled through the damp, foul-smelling cave, the sounds of muffled gunfire could be heard from up above and the bandits gave cries of pain. She knew she wouldn't have long to achieve peace with the notorious bandit leader, so she'd have to work quickly. She _knew_ she could do this.

She emerged in an arena-type structure, lined with an extraordinary amount of toilets, chests and safes, locking on to a stage off to one side where a man in a psycho mask was teasing two Skags, clad in crude armour. She couldn't tell from here, but she could only assume that this rough-looking gentleman was Nine-Toes. The gunfire was still perfectly audible from here – he must have been more than aware of it. Yet, he was ignoring it as if it was a daily occurrence. To be honest, it probably was.

However, having a young girl sneaking around within his chambers was something he was not used to and quickly noticed. A knife struck the porcelain bowl to Adira's left and she darted behind a chest, ignoring his screeching voice demanding her presence.

"Come outta there! You dare to walk in on Nine-Toes!?" He hollered, his vicious voice coupled by an unstable laugh. For a second she was frozen in fear, her back stuck to the chest like glue. The sound of Mordecai's rifle dislodging the heads of two more bandits somewhere close by spurred her to life – she was working on a time limit. She carefully stood up with her hands raised in surrender, emerging into Nine-Toes' line of sight with the least terrified expression she could manage. From behind the mask she saw his eyes widen and his hostile demeanour faltered.

"Yer just a kid!" He exclaimed. Upon one hand gesture from him, his spitting and growling Skags silenced and relaxed. Adira in turn begged her own shaking form to relax, but she kept her arms high.

"I-I don't even have a gun!" She added, although she had no idea why – those words could either save her further or land her in seriously hot water. Luckily, they seemed to do the former.

"What in God's name are yeh doin' here, Kid!? How are yeh still breathin'!?"

"I-I'm from Fyrestone, I came here to negotiate with you." She held herself as high as possible. However, Nine-Toes only erupted into monstrous laughter.

"Have I really offed so many of 'em that kids are all that's left!?"

"No, I came here of my own accord – for me and my dad. I want to work out a deal with you." Her voice was already beginning to falter. Nine-Toes fell into an eerie silence, gazing at the girl with purpose. Then, he turned away.

"Come on down here, into the light where I can see ya." He gestured ahead of him. Gulping, Adira obeyed, knowing fine well that disaster could befall otherwise. When she stood before him, at least two heads smaller, she began to speak.

"You have a feud with Bonehead's crew, right?"

"Don't talk about that son of a bitch!" He hissed. Bingo.

"His camp is right beside Fyrestone," Adira tirelessly continued. "Every night I listen in on him, plotting to destroy you so he can become Sledge's right-hand. You're not gonna let that happen, right?"

"Yer sure as hell, I ain't!" He roared, drawing his legendary pistol, The Clipper from its holster on his belt.

"Listen, my dad is a doctor," Adira was pushing all the right buttons. Maybe, just maybe, she could succeed before Mordecai got there and took Nine-Toes down like a vengeful explosive God. "If you agree to stop attacking Fyrestone, you can take down Bonehead before he attacks you and my dad will heal your men during the fighting. We can restock all of your guns and ammo too, get you better gear! You'll be guaranteed to win! Then, you'll have Sledge all to yourself!"

"Now, I do like the sound of that," He laughed like a giddy schoolgirl. Adira found it incredible that she was still alive. Perhaps he was one of those bandits who couldn't bring himself to hurt a child. She was glad for it, especially with those two Skags eying her up. "I think you've got yer pretty little self a deal, Ki-!"

The sound of rifle fire drew his attention away from her and he ducked as a bullet whizzed on past, just missing him.

"Ambush!" He rushed up onto the stage, taking aim with his pistol as Mordecai leaped into the arena from the elevator, taking out both Skags with the pistol in record time.

"Yer a part of this, Kid!? Yer just a decoy, huh!? Tryin' to distract me with fancy talk while yer Truxican Wrestler pal sniped me!?" He barked at me, dodging two warning bullets from Mordecai's pistol.

"No, I'm not with him, I swear!" While casting a glare at the now confused Vault Hunter who had just noticed her, she yelled.

"I'll deal with ya once I've dealt with this chump." He hissed. Adira had to admit that she didn't like the sound of that. God fucking job Mordecai, now she actually _was _in danger.

Luckily, the only person's wrath she had to fear was Mordecai himself, who appeared to be so irritated that he dodged all of Nine-Toes' bullets with frightening reflexes and decided to deal with him melee style. After a few blocked punches, Mordecai floored the bandit lord with an elbow to the neck and sliced his throat with his blade, wiping it clean on the corpse's orange trousers and sheathing it, all while turning to face the young girl, his masked face the picture of rage.

He was so angry that he didn't even stop to examine Nine-Toes' loot – instead he scooped Adira up by force and threw her over his shoulder while she screamed and bashed him with her highly un-lethal fists, telling him that he'd ruined everything.

"We had a deal, Mordecai! He was going to stop attacking Fyrestone!" She screamed and he just decided to ignore her. Maybe she'd shut up eventually and stop attracting skags when she realised he didn't care.

They reached town just as the sun was fading away below the wastes, being replaced by the vengeful night sky that was revered by predators. Adira had to admit that she was relieved when she heard the gate slide shut behind them and the group of skags that had been chasing them crash into it full force, barking and snarling in anger at losing their meal. Immediately the vault hunter dropped her, ignoring her cries of objection as she scrambled onto her knees and was tackled by her two Claptrap friends – they were _heavy. _

As Adira passed through the graveyard, the two quirky robots practically attached to her legs, her eyes landed on her dad, who had already spotted her several moments before. It was hard to tell what the good doctor was thinking through his face mask, and his eyes were often so steely anyway, but Adira knew that she had _really_ worried him this time. That way he crossed his arms as she approached – he was also angry, and she supposed he had every right to be.

"What were you thinkin', Adira?" His voice was quiet and shaky, much like how he had sounded over the ECHO device to Mordecai.

"I'm sorry, dad." It was all she could think to say.

"What were you doin' out there, after I told you to never leave town!?" His voice raised – for the first time ever and she had no idea how to respond. Dr. Zed had never truly been angry at her, not to this extent, anyway.

"I-I wanted to see what I was missing." She knew he wouldn't understand her reply, but she was so startled that it was all she could get out.

"Huh!?" The doctor seemed lost for words, somehow. Even Mordecai's attention was drawn by Adira's words.

"I'm 16 now, dad – most people my age are already Vault Hunters or soldiers or bandits – doing something with their lives, anyway. But all my life you've just kept me inside the walls, hiding me from enemies – I never even saw a bandit up close until today! I even spoke to one," Mordecai found himself listening intently, questioning the absence of that mysterious woman in his head. She didn't seem to like Adira – maybe she was listening just as hard as he was.

"I know I don't have much of a spine for fighting and I hate the idea of killing and all of that bullshit, but – but maybe if you let me outside every once and a while or if you trained me I could learn to hold my own! You wouldn't have to keep protecting me, and I could actually do something for this planet! I could fight for something – or at least _against_ something, like Pandorians should!"

Dr. Zed was stunned into silence.

"But you told me a few days ago that you can't even kill a skag. I saw proof of that with my own eyes today." Mordecai spoke up - he wanted the girl to see reason, but he didn't even know why.

"Yeah, but maybe I could learn! There's no room on this planet for people like me, I know that now! That's why I need to learn to kill, to defend myself, even if I don't like it! Just so other people aren't putting themselves at risk for me!" She turned to Dr. Zed, who simply gazed back at her in silent amazement. The shape of his mask indicated that his mouth was hanging ever so slightly open.

"You know what Mordecai did today, dad? He took down the entire gully's worth of skags just to save my worthless hide, well _no more! _If somebody's going to be fighting to save my life, I should at least be holding a gun and shooting alongside them!"

The doctor cut her short, taking a few steps back.

"We'll talk about this later, Kid." Beckoning Mordecai to follow him into the surgery, Zed practically escaped the fuming girl and closed the surgery door once Mordecai was securely inside.

"Dangnabit, I knew she'd do this one day – just didn't think it'd be so soon," He growled, opening up a money box he kept inside one of the lockers. He handed Mordecai $200, which the sniper took with some confusion.

"That's for savin' her. Now I suppose you wanna know why you had to save her in the first place."

"Some answers would be good, Doc. We don't need her running off again." The vault hunter admitted, pulling up a chair.

"Fifteen years ago or roundabouts, a bus carryin' people headin' fir New Haven came on past town, but broke down and was attacked by skags that had been trackin' it. Somehow the bus went up in flames so we took everyone fir dead - tried to shoot the skags down instead. But I heard a voice callin' fir help from the bus. By the time I got over, a woman inside the bus told me to save 'er kid and handed a baby to me – that baby was Adira." He began to explain. Sighing at the memories, the doctor leaned up against the wall, pressing his forehead into his hands.

"There's more to it though, isn't there?" Mordecai had an unsettling feeling in his gut.

"Yep. 'Er mom told me that 'er dad was a bandit chief and they'd been on the run from 'im."

Mordecai's eyes widened in realization.

"You don't let her leave the town because you're worried that a bandit will recognize her, right?"

"Exactly right. In fact, I have no doubt that she could handle 'erself in a gunfight with a little trainin' – my main worry is that she'll get found and taken back to 'im – whoever he is."

"But the last time he saw her was when she was a baby! How would he know what she looks like?"

"There's a myth about bandits – no idea if it's true – but legend has it they can recognize one of their own from a mile away." He told the vault hunter, who nearly laughed.

"But she doesn't even look like a bandit!" Mordecai stood up and placed the money back into Dr. Zed's hand. "Listen Doc, I know you just want to protect her but I don't think you've got much to worry about. Most of those bandits are too stupid to know the difference between me and their comrades in a gunfight. I doubt they could recognize a girl they've never seen before as being one of them."

"Even so, I ain't takin' any chances," Dr. Zed finally stood away from the wall, pressing the money back into Mordecai's hands. "Don't tell 'er anythin' we've just talked about, kapeesh? She doesn't know that I'm not her real dad, I wanna keep it that way – it's the best fir 'er."

Knowing what it was like to grow up without any parents, Mordecai simply nodded, finally accepting the money.

"Also, I need you to do somethin' for me. Somethin' difficult."

* * *

It's good to be working on this story again, I hated just staring at it while typing up something else. I'm not good at multitasking when it comes to writing. *sigh*

Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying it so far and there should hopefully be more soon!

~Lagiacrus


	5. Chapter 4: Using a Gun

Hey guys, this is a short chapter which is leading up to the shitstorm that is the next chapter, which will be much longer than this one. However, I don't know when I'll get it uploaded - I've recently started university as some of you know and my writing's been very slow.

Also, I talked a lot about guns in this chapter but I have no idea if my information is accurate - I live in Scotland and guns are unheard of up here. We prefer to use knives for our bandit raids ;D Anyway, if my information's off feel free to let me know and I'll correct it.

Anyway, enjoy! :D

~ Lagiacrus

* * *

The sun appeared behind the red mountains like an indication of the disaster that was to come with the beginning of the day. It roused Mordecai from his light slumber and he sat up with a groan. The beginning of a new day, and with it, his new mission. He had been tasked by Dr. Zed with a mission which could prove to be impossible and probably deadly.

He had to teach Adira how to use a gun – and she actually had to hit something with it.

"Adira, wake up! Come on!" He stepped out of Marcus' gunstore, where he had set up a bed for the time he was there, to see Zed forcibly dragging the girl out of her red shack. For whatever reason, she was fully dressed – stupid kid was probably so exhausted from her endeavours the previous day that she practically collapsed into bed. Still too dazed to complain, she was lowered into her usual morning chair where she sat, glaring with half-shut eyes at the town gate, saying not a word. Not even the crazed arrival of Clappy and Trappy rolling out of nowhere, trapped in the throngs of a heated argument drew her attention.

Mordecai sat down in the seat closest to her, waving his hand in front of her face. No response.

"Don't worry, she's fine," Zed told him, sticking an unidentifiable skinned creature over the fire. "She has days like this. She'll come around."

It was well into noon before the child began to wake up. Once she'd washed herself and put on some fresh clothes, she was pulled along by the strangely silent vault hunter into the deeper reaches of Fyrestone, pursued closely by the two curious Claptraps.

"Where are we going?" Still too tired to really object, she drawled. He came to a stop, drew his pistol from his belt and handed it to her. Then, he turned her around so she was facing the corrugated iron wall at a wanted poster of Brick. He kept his hands firmly on her shoulders, speaking slowly to let her task sink in.

"You are going to use this gun to shoot my buddy Brick over there, okay?"

"Ehh, huh?" She weighed the Tediore weapon in her hands, holding it a significant distance away from her, as though she was expecting it to jump up and bite her.

"I'm going to teach you how to aim and fire a gun. If you're gonna keep running off like you did during your little adventure yesterday, you're damn well gonna need the training. Besides, you were the one who wanted this," He adjusted the gun in her hold, closing both her hands around the grip, moving a finger onto the trigger. Then, he indicated to the slide on the top of the gun.

"See this bit here? Pull it back."

Her entire form shaking, she did as she was told, gently pulling the slide back. The hammer moved with it, clicking into place. With a frightened wince she released the slide, allowing it to move back into place, but the hammer stayed down. He indicated to it with a finger.

"See that? That's the hammer. When that stays down, it means the gun's ready to fire," he gently raised her arms up, so the gun was pointing straight at Brick's forehead. Then, he levelled Adira's eyes so she was seeing down the gun's barrel, indicating to the two jutting pieces of metal sticking out of it. "These are your Sights. Use them to help you aim. Try and blow his brains out – hit him right between the eyes."

She nearly recoiled at his vulgar terminology, casting him a quick, disapproving glare. However, she reasoned with herself that the sooner she fired the gun, the sooner this hell would be over. The idea of even firing one of these vicious, fire-spitting monsters made her gut coil, as much as she knew it was necessary. She held her breath, aligned the sights with what she thought was Brick's forehead, and fired the gun.

The bang it made was impressive. Adira was only amazed for a split second, until the slide flew back, cocking the hammer once more and struck her in the eye. The spent cartridge hit the ground with a gentle 'ting!' and Mordecai erupted into laughter. Not only did Adira already have a bruised left eye, she had also struck Brick in the same eye. The bullet had pierced right through the poster and the metal backing it, leaving a gaping black hole in its place.

"Close enough, Kid! You don't need to hold the gun right up to your face, though!" He took hold of her wrists and outstretched her arms.

"Try holding it like this. Then, the slide won't hit you. Also, you'll have better control over recoil, although this pistol doesn't have much." He told her and she nodded.

"See, the gun's Semi-automatic - it's already cocked again for you. Just press the trigger again when you're ready."

She kept his words in her head as she aligned the gun once more with Brick's forehead, keeping her arms stretched out as far as they would go. Then, she aimed slightly above her original target – she guessed that the recoil might slightly affect where the gun struck – and, after aligning the sights once more, she fired.

She winced at the loud bang, feeling the lightweight weapon jut in her grip. When she took in Mordecai's expression, mouth agape and wide-eyed behind the sanctity of his mask, she examined her handiwork and found that she'd hit her mark with excellent precision – almost frighteningly accurate. Another singed hole was smack bang in the middle of Brick's eyes. A relieved grin settled onto her fine features and she hastily attempted to hand the weapon back to him. He only shook his head.

"Just because you got one good shot, that doesn't mean you're ready. We're practicing until I'm sure you know what you're doing."

The teenager groaned in annoyance, but didn't disobey. Maybe, just maybe, the idea of being able to respond in a fight was a little exciting.

What she had completely forgotten about, and was remembered only by Dr. Zed, was that today was her birthday – or, more accurately, the day she was rescued from that burning bus. Now at sixteen years old, Adira was now legally able to do most things on Pandora – buy a gun, wield/own as many as she wished, buy alcohol, even buy a vehicle – age restrictions were higher than a lot of people expected on Pandora, but the law was very rarely enforced anymore, so these restrictions were wholeheartedly ignored. However, one thing that very few foreigners were surprised by was the fact that you were legally allowed to own your first gun at the age of four.

Despite the fact that her birthday was the farthest thing from her mind, she followed Mordecai back into the centre of town to find Dr. Zed out of his workshop, wearing the cleanest apron he owned – was there some kind of occasion that she had forgotten about? She really hoped it wasn't anybody's birthday – with the chaos of the past few days she had had no time to get anybody anything (or rather, go hunting through the old houses, find something of value and wrap it up pretty). When her dad took out one of his old beat up money boxes from behind her, she got Mordecai to tell her the date and then sighed.

"I forgot. Today's my birthday."

She could see Dr. Zed smile under his mask. He held out the money box for her to take.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, Kid. I got a little too hot under the collar." He offered his gruff apology, quickly taking his hands away when she took the box, as though he was shy. With a raised eyebrow at the weight of the box, she flicked the catch back and opened it.

The way her expression changed to one of shock and awe would have been funny had Mordecai not seen what was in the box. She was looking at an Atlas HRD5 Pearl Raptor, complete with the signature Pearl handle. It was fanged, too – the blade looked like it had just been sharpened, as flawless as the day it was made, despite its clear age. Mordecai had not seen a Pearl Raptor of that sort for a _very _long time. Adira took the distinctive white gun out of the box, allowing the container to fall to the ground with a clang. She replayed Mordecai's instructions in her head – she took note of its hammer, its slide and its distinctive sights, slightly larger than the ones on Mordecai's Tediore. She tested the trigger, feeling it bounce against her finger – it was heavier than the Tediore, but she liked it. It felt… right, in her grasp. When she aimed it with both hands at a nearby wanted poster of Lilith, her gait was totally different from when she wielded the unfamiliar Tediore. This, she had a feeling, was _her _weapon – the one she was _destined _to wield.

"I wonder what kinda daydreams the rascal's havin'!" Dr. Zed laughed, watching his daughter's eyes twinkle in the daytime light. Mordy watched her point the gun in various directions, testing how it felt, _learning_ it – the slightest hints of a warm smile appeared on his masked face.

"_I… am concerned. I did not predict this girl's involvement. I have no idea who she is, or what part she is to play. Be wary, Vault Hunter – she may hinder rather than help." _It was the first time the mysterious woman inside his head had spoken since the previous day, during which she'd congratulated him on slaying Nine-Toes. He heeded those words, but for the moment, he just wanted to observe her as she obsessed over her present – as much as she loved it, he hoped she would never have cause to use it. The woman's words had unsettled him somewhat – even though she sounded unsure, did she sense some kind of upcoming threat somehow tied to Adira? Sensing that Dr. Zed was speaking to him, he pushed the thoughts from his mind and smiled, joining the ecstatic inhabitants of the town in celebrating Adira's birthday.

* * *

In the deepest reaches of Headstone Mine, the infamous Bone-Head dragged along behind him a poor bandit, who was screeching like a deranged harpy and trying to break away from his grip. With the permission of two guards, he was allowed passage into the throne room of Sledge, the biggest, 'baddest' cat in the Arid Badlands. Nobody could rival him, in terms of power, weaponry, riches and self-proclaimed boasting. Even the forever proud Bone-Head was humble upon approaching him, lowering his head as he coughed to make himself known. He growled in response, turning away from his chest in the corner of the room and reaching instinctively for his titular sledgehammer, before ever so slightly relaxing upon seeing it was only one of his most trusted commanders.

"Why do you disturb Sledge?" He grumbled, to which Bone-Head chucked the bandit to the ground and stood back.

"This guy is from Nine-Toes' clan, says the ol' psycho's finally snuffed it."

"What!?" Both bandits had to dodge an enraged swing from his hammer. "What kind of stupid person dares to kill Sledge's men!?"

"It's a Vault Hunter, Boss! Saw him with me own two eyes! Had a Jakobs Long Thunder and a Tediore-!" The bandit scout at his feet ranted before the boss reacted harshly;

"SLEDGE DOESN'T WANT THE DETAILS! Sledge wants his _head!_" He snarled, picking up both bandits with his comically oversized hands, as if they were his toys.

"H-He had a kid with 'im, Boss! A gal!" The scout ranted desperately, clearly spooked into a dribbling panic.

"Ooh, Vault Hunter's precious, maybe?" He seemed to relax, placing the two bandits down on the floor again, thankfully unscathed. "Sledge has an idea! Idea says to lead puny Vault Hunter here!"

"You mean set a trap for 'im inside the mine?" Bone-Head liked the idea, smirking under his skull mask. "Good thinkin', Boss."

"You," Sledge pointed to Bone-Head with a finger that seemed almost accusing. "You kidnap Vault Hunter's Precious, bring her to Sledge. Vault Hunter will follow. Then we _crush him like insect._"

Bone-Head grabbed the sobbing bandit still lying devastated on the floor and began to leave the room. "You got it, Boss."

* * *

Yeah, once again, sorry about how short this chapter is. The next one will be much longer, don't worry. I hope you're enjoying this so far because the quiet part of this story is over. It's nothing but plot, adventures and gunfights from here on out XD

~ Lagiacrus


End file.
